


redemption

by pro_se



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Friendship, Gen, No Romance, One Shot, Pirate Politics, Some references to past works, unless you really really squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 05:51:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13804788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pro_se/pseuds/pro_se
Summary: Hornigold's perspective on what it means to accept the pardon and turn his back on the rest of Nassau





	redemption

The horizon is speckled with large British warships and galleons, intimidating and stark against the hazy morning sunrise. You drop your coat on the ground and sit down heavily, digging your toes into the coarse sand, and set your chin on your knees. Keenly watching the blockade that has haunted the Nassau harbors for the last few days.

It’s not long before someone familiar joins you, his broad shoulders and dark hair easy to recognize from a ways.

“Saw you from the harbor,” says Benjamin Hornigold, voice low and rough, like he’s still trying to wake up. He drops down next to you and stretches out his long legs. “I thought you’d be at the trading booth. Or the market. Hey, you’ll catch a cold if you aren’t careful. Here.”

He drapes his blue overcoat over your shoulders, despite knowing that you could instead wear your discarded jacket. It smells like pine and somewhat earthy, scent more suited for a woodsman or farmer. You risk a glance at Hornigold; he’s in a ragged not-so-white shirt that seems more suited to summer days than this bleak and dreary morning.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“Nah,” he says, leaning back on his forearms. “And if I am, I’ll just scurry on back to Ol’ Avery.”

“It’s early for drinking.”

Hornigold chuckles. “Never too early for anything.” 

This feels strange to you. And at the same time, it’s refreshing. Instead of being surrounded by rowdy pirates and barmaids, or being drunk on alcohol or poker winnings, now you and and Benjamin Hornigold were privy to a moment like this.

Still--

“What are you doing here?” you ask, while shivering and drawing his coat a little closer around yourself. His eyes are gray, or perhaps some shade of dark blue. Hesitating to place any sort of animosity in your words, you suggest, “You don’t seem the sort for casual talk.”

He arches an eyebrow. “I thought we weren’t making assumptions about each other.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I meant it in good humor.”

You study the buttons on the navy blue jacket, noting their tarnish and worn edges. “Vane told me about the governor’s pardon,” you say quietly. “He says that you’ve accepted his terms. I don’t mean to pry, or to demand why, but I can’t help thinking about it.”

Hornigold sits up and looks at you with a soft, tempered gaze. “Do you know what the pardon does for a pirate like me or Vane, lass? It lets us walk away from the hangman’s noose. It gives us a second chance-- it gives  _ Nassau  _ a second chance to become something other than a center of violence and disease like it is now.”

You’ve heard of the illness attacking the weak and the elderly. Medicine is sparse and expensive; the British blockade only makes matters worse. “But only if all of Nassau agrees with the pardon,” you say. “Otherwise it means a civil war among pirates. I know Vane is opposed to the idea.”

“Does Charlie ever agree to anything if it’s not gilded in gold and silver?” Hornigold sighs. “I’ve not seen hide nor hair of him since the governor invited us to discuss the pardon. He been lurking around your shop?”

“Not in recent days.” You look back to the horizon.

“Do you fear for him?”

“What does that mean?”

“Vane. If he accepts the pardon, then he becomes a free man. A good man. Otherwise he’ll likely be hung in a few years’ time, or be captured by those bounty hunters.” Hornigold cards an uneasy hand through his dark hair. “You know, he doesn’t have to be a pirate anymore. None of us do.”

You close your eyes. “Vane cares little for what others think of him,” you say eventually. “And the same goes for Kenway and Thatch and Kidd.”

“Perhaps.”

“What’s more, Hornigold, is although you turn your back on a life of piracy, it does not mean one is suddenly good and whole.” You turn and look at him, only mildly surprise that he’s been watching you the entire time. “After all, you decided to become a pirate in the first place.”

He says nothing for a long while, content to mull over your conversation. “It’s a second chance,” Benjamin Hornigold says at last, repeating the one assurance he’ll hold dear and close in the years to come.

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: help im having feelings for hornigold
> 
> also me@me: you had one job. focus on charles vane.
> 
> now this exists


End file.
